Chicago Local leaders

How Loyola alumni help make Chicago ‘The City that Works’

By Daniel P. Smith

Some are prominent movers and shakers. Others are behind-the-scenes players: Small business owners, teachers, and executives helping to drive the city’s economic and social well-being in significant ways. No matter where they are inside the city or suburbs, Loyola alumni are powering Chicago and contributing to its vitality and strength.

“Being a Loyola alum, I understand the world isn’t solely about me. There’s an obligation to make life better for others, to improve quality of life for residents across Chicago, and I’m grateful I get to play a part in that and help move the city forward,” said Lindy McGuire (BA ’01), deputy chief of staff for sister agencies in the Mayor’s Office.

Dedicated, determined, and resourceful, Loyola alumni are fueling Chicago’s ascent on the global stage and enlivening the city that works. See how they are making a difference in the fields of education, business, and politics.

As Chicago’s leaders: Loyola brings its expertise, its Jesuit mission, its thought leadership, and its alumni talent to Chicago’s industries. See our mark on the city.

Education

Politics

Business

Nurturing the next generation

Though it’s a steamy, 90-degree June day in Chicago, Minerva Garcia-Sanchez (BA ’91) isn’t lacking for energy. Her words come fast and her voice crescendos time and again as she discusses her work with Chicago Public Schools (CPS). As chief of schools for CPS Network 7—one of 13 “mini-districts” in a vast urban school system catering to nearly 375,000 students across Chicago—Garcia-Sanchez oversees a collection of 27 schools on the city’s near Southwest Side, including iconic port-of-entry neighborhoods like Pilsen and Little Village filled with hope and ambition, courage and character.

Currently in her third year as network chief, Garcia-Sanchez functions much like a superintendent of schools, overseeing all curriculum, instruction, and learning as well as each school’s strategic plan and expenditures. It’s a taxing job with long hours, the typical bureaucratic hurdles of public sector life, and its share of emotional strain. But neither the complexity of the job nor Chicago’s summer heat on this particular day can stifle Garcia-Sanchez’s enterprising spirit.

“I grew up in this area and the children I serve today are me back in the day. I’m the voice for these children and uphold any programs that support them becoming active citizens of Chicago because that’s what I want more than anything.”

—Minerva Garcia-Sanchez (BA ’91)

Garcia-Sanchez’s passion for Chicago and educating its youth remains both personal and purposeful. A communications and psychology major at Loyola, she intended to become a lawyer focused on child advocacy before pivoting to bilingual education at the encouragement of a CPS principal she met during a school visit. She joined the school district 24 years ago and has never looked back, committed to developing a talented pipeline for her community and the city at large.

“The more we educate students, the more we encourage them to learn and dream, the better positioned they will be to make Chicago stronger,” said Garcia-Sanchez, who is also co-founder of the CPS Dream Fund Scholarship that awards college scholarships to “DREAMer” students from CPS schools. “The City of Chicago raised me, and anything that makes us stronger I’m excited to do.”

On Chicago’s academic scene, Garcia-Sanchez is far from the only Loyola alum motivating the city’s youth. CPS is filled with educators at every level who are leading classrooms and schools with the skills they gained at Loyola. Others, like Mary Kearney (MEd ’88, EdD ’99) and Jill Young (MA ’13, PhD ’16), are shaping Chicago’s educational environment beyond public schools’ doors.

Kearney, for example, spent the last seven years as associate superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago, one of the nation’s largest private school systems with more than 200 schools and 76,000 students. As a senior administrator, Kearney helped foster a more coherent vision for the school system, one focused on academic quality and fidelity to Catholic values as a counter to the violence and inequity dampening Chicago’s star.

“We aimed to create safe, nurturing environments where kids could become active, contributing members to society,” said Kearney, who embraced a career in Catholic education as a way to live her Christian values and serve the faith.

At the archdiocese, Kearney supervised school turnaround programs to ensure marketplace viability and competitiveness, spearheaded the adoption of an accreditation process to demonstrate continuous improvement, and initiated a leadership academy that provided field experience to dozens of current and aspiring school principals. “I was driven to ensure that all students had options for a quality education, particularly in areas where that is not as accessible as it should be. Ultimately, that helps Chicago because it’s providing children a path to reach their potential,” she said.

More recently, Kearney accepted a position as chief academic officer with the Cristo Rey Network. A Catholic educational system designed to serve low-income youth, the Network includes some three-dozen schools across the U.S., including two in Chicago—the Cristo Rey flagship in Pilsen and Christ the King in the West Side’s Austin neighborhood.

Like Kearney and Garcia-Sanchez, Young embraces youth education as a vocation. The senior director of research and evaluation at After School Matters, a Chicago-based nonprofit that provides summer and after-school programming to Chicago teens, Young explores ways to help youth thrive in the present and future.

“These Chicago teens are an asset, and our mission is to cultivate their interests and encourage them to become contributors right now,” Young said.

Headed by CEO and Loyola alumna Mary Ellen Caron (PhD ’04), After School Matters provided some 26,000 programs in the arts, sports, leadership, and STEM fields to more than 17,000 local teens during its most recent fiscal year. Programming, Young said, that helps teens explore and develop their talents while simultaneously cultivating their skills for college, the workplace, and beyond.

Overseeing the organization’s research and evaluation functions, Young has increasingly linked data to practice, including capturing feedback from more than 400 teens to shape programming, inform decision-making, and propel organizational impact.

When Young noticed male participation in After School Matters’ programs hovering at 40 percent, for example, she joined with the organization’s programming and development teams to boost those numbers. Together, the group secured external funding for more male-targeted programming, produced male-specific recruitment materials, piloted weekend-only programs, and revised program names and descriptions. As a result, After School Matters’ male participation rate has climbed to 45 percent in two years.

“And that’s important given the violence in Chicago and how valuable it is to show teens positive and productive alternatives,” said Young. “I’ve always had the mindset of trying to make the world a better place every single day. With After School Matters, we’re putting Chicago’s teens at the heart of everything we do and being a part of that effort is inspiring.”

Shaping urban life for the better

Recent visitors to Chicago’s lakefront are likely familiar with Lindy McGuire’s (BA ’01) work. As deputy chief of staff for sister agencies in the Mayor’s Office, McGuire serves as liaison between City Hall and six prominent Chicago agencies, including the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Transit Authority, and Chicago Public Schools.

“I’m fortunate that my work is all about trying to make the city better,” McGuire said.

Over the last two years, the Minnesota native played a leading role in creating separate trails for running and biking along Chicago’s lakefront. “Eighteen miles from Ardmore to 71st Street,” McGuire beams. She collaborated with the team of noted Chicago philanthropist Ken Griffin and community partners to execute phases of the project, which is slated for completion later this year, and to address key needs such as access and safety.

McGuire is among many public-sector leaders with a Loyola education who are influencing Chicago life. Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (BA ’70, JD ’74), who represents near North Side neighborhoods such as the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, and Lake View, was first elected to the state’s General Assembly in 1978 and has served as Senate president for the last decade.

In his earliest years as a member of the state’s General Assembly, the political science major led the effort to establish Local School Councils (LSC) in the city’s public schools. Comprised of teachers, parents, and community members, LSCs are elected bodies at each school charged with approving their school’s budget, shepherding its strategic plan, and evaluating principal performance.

“This empowered investment in local schools and created an entirely new dynamic around school governance,” Cullerton said.

Today, CPS, once a languishing, ridiculed system, is home to a number of the state’s top-rated public high schools and has secured consistent achievement gains. “Other factors are at play, but LSCs certainly played a role in the turnaround by giving stakeholders a voice,” Cullerton said.

Today, Cullerton works regularly with city leadership to ensure Chicago receives its fair share of resources for key areas such as infrastructure, education, parks, and transportation. Constant investment is necessary, he said, given Chicago’s position as a major urban hub.

“To maintain quality of life in Chicago, we need to advocate for Chicago and counter the myths that have developed about the city. There’s a lot of negativity thrown around about Chicago and people lose perspective on the dynamic city it is and the important role it plays in the state and region.”

—John Cullerton (BA ’70, JD ’74)

For much of Cullerton’s time in the General Assembly, he worked alongside fellow Loyola alum Christine Radogno (BA ’73, MSW ’74), who retired as Illinois’ Senate Minority Leader in July 2017 after 20 years in office.

Like Cullerton, Radogno championed a more nimble and responsive Chicago. She played an active role in crafting the state’s most recent education reform bill, which prioritized funding for children in poverty, spearheaded efforts to increase access to mental health care and Medicaid, and provided Chicago leaders clear parameters for addressing the city’s pension crisis.

“The City of Chicago is an economic driver for the state and one is not as healthy without the other,” Radogno said.

McGuire, meanwhile, continues on in City Hall. Her most invigorating current project involves a joint initiative with the Chicago Housing Authority and the Chicago Public Library that blends affordable housing with new library spaces in three neighborhoods—Irving Park, West Rogers Park, and Little Italy.

“It’s so amazing to work on a project like this because it’s going to have an impact on people’s everyday lives,” McGuire said. “Being a Loyola alum, I understand the world isn’t solely about me. There’s an obligation to make life better for others, to improve quality of life for residents across Chicago, and I’m grateful I get to play a part in that and help move the city forward.”

Leading dynamic, diverse businesses

In the shadow of O’Hare International Airport, Ken Meyers (BBA ’76) stares out the window of his eighth-floor office and marvels at the active city below.

“Chicago is the best place in the world to have a corporate headquarters,” declares Meyers, U.S. Cellular’s CEO since 2013.

Though the telecommunications giant exited Chicago’s wireless market in 2012, the city remains its home base. Of the firm’s 6,600 U.S. employees, about 1,200 work at its Chicago headquarters or at a nearby engineering center. And despite the company’s absence from Chicago’s consumer landscape, Meyers has insisted that U.S. Cellular—the nation’s fifth largest wireless carrier serving some 5 million customers—remain an active corporate citizen. For Meyers, continued engagement with the city is a means to attract top talent, but to also honor the company’s longstanding legacy of philanthropic activity with local organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs.

“Chicago’s a vibrant city with a great talent pool, a strong Midwestern work ethic, and a robust business community that has worked well with Chicago’s leadership,” said Meyers, a native of the city’s Northwest Side. “We’ve remained involved in Chicago because it’s in our DNA and core to who we are.”

About 15 miles southeast of Meyers’ office, McDonald’s has doubled down on Chicago and its promise with a new 490,000-square-foot headquarters in the city’s West Loop. Hosting some 2,200 corporate employees on ground once inhabited by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios, McDonald’s is now the city’s second largest corporate headquarters and one of a dozen Fortune 500 companies calling Chicago home.

“Chicago is a vibrant, dynamic city that provides us a better opportunity to connect with our customers and be closer to our employees,” said Francesca DeBiase (BBA ’88), a 27-year McDonald’s employee and the company’s current chief supply chain and sustainability officer.

McDonald’s new home will contribute mightily to Chicago, heightening the city’s prestige for other corporate relocations and pushing an estimated $12 million in economic activity into Chicago each year. Beyond its sterling new headquarters, however, McDonald’s and its franchise partners employ some 5,400 individuals across more than 100 Chicago restaurants and contribute nearly $9 million dollars annually to the city’s coffers through property and sales taxes. That capital supports critical civic initiatives such as education and infrastructure.

For DeBiase, who drives the thoughtful execution of McDonald’s purchasing and sustainability initiatives—which include areas like youth employment and family nutrition—it’s energizing to be among the senior leadership at an enterprise contributing to Chicago’s liveliness and future.

Meyers and DeBiase are among more than 20,000 Quinlan School of Business alumni, approximately two-thirds of the school’s total alumni base, driving metro Chicago’s robust business scene.

Another is Melissa Ballate (BBA ’01, MSISM ’03), who was recognized as one of Crain’s Chicago Business’ 40 under 40 in 2015. The founder and president of Blue Daring, a boutique marketing and branding firm in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, Ballate’s agency partners with executives and entrepreneurs to bring new ideas to life. Over the last 15 years, the company has worked with the likes of bike-sharing service Divvy and the Chicago Innovation Awards, two particular efforts that highlight the city’s swelling entrepreneurial flair and promote its forward-thinking mindset.

“There are so many businesses like mine across the city, small businesses that add diversity and creativity and give the city its distinct point of view,” Ballate said.

Born and raised in Chicago, the daughter of a hairdresser and engineer, Ballate never considered anchoring her business anywhere but Chicago.

“This is my city. This is my life,” she said. “With me and so many of the Loyola alumni I meet in business, there’s a compulsion to do more, to make things better and drive solutions. And it’s that spirit of service that moves Chicago forward.”